Meet the new CNP

Name: Vice Adm. Bill Moran Job: Took over as chief of naval personnel on Aug. 2. Navy career: Moran graduated from the Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in English in 1981. “I did graduate in the bottom half of the class of 1981. Just so you know, anybody can achieve greatness if you stick with it,” he told his new staff at an all-hands meeting Thursday. After the academy, Moran went to flight school and became a P-3 pilot. He served with Patrol Squadron 46, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 2 and as an instructor with Patrol Squadron 30. He also spent time in the fleet as a staff member for Commander, Carrier Group 6, aboard the carrier Forrestal. Before becoming the chief of naval personnel, he served as the director of air warfare at the Pentagon. Family: Moran has been married for 31 years and has two children and one grandchild. His son is a former enlisted intelligence specialist in the Navy who served four years and now works as an intelligence specialist contractor at Fort Bragg, N.C. His daughter lives in California with her husband and their son. “If you want to get rid of me, invite my daughter back from California with my grandchild because I will evaporate from the work space and go spend every hour I can with my grandson,” Moran told his staff. Fun fact: Though Moran grew up in New York, he is a Boston Red Sox and Celtics fan because of his dad, who grew up in Manchester, N.H. “He had me listening to AM radio underneath my bed covers at night when I was a little kid,” he said. “So I became an instant Boston Celtics fan and then, naturally, a Boston Red Sox fan.” Job advice: What does CNP need to know? Send a proposed priority list for the new personnel boss to navylet@navytimes.com.

After a decadelong drawdown — that just a year ago officials declared over — sequestration could force the service to shed thousands more sailors.

That’s why Vice Adm. Bill Moran, the Navy’s new personnel chief, cites “managing a downsizing force” as the No. 1 priority for him and his staff.

Moran took over as chief of naval personnel Aug. 2, relieving Vice Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, and addressed his staff Thursday in an all-hands call.

“Obviously we’re headed for some challenging times,” Moran said. “It’s all over the place. We all know it’s coming, and we’ve been asked to start looking at it and making sure we’re ready for whatever it turns out to be, and that is managing a force in whatever size and shape it’s going to be.”

“We’ve got to find balance in this force,” Moran told his staff. “Whatever this force looks like at the end of what sequestration drives us to, whether it’s a significantly smaller force or a slightly smaller force or the same size force, we still have to balance a lot of things.”

Moran, in a letter issued to his staff, said he is also prepping to focus on force readiness, manning distribution and sailor resiliency.

He added that with all the uncertainty, it’s paramount that Navy sailors and civilians, as well as their families, trust the work his office is doing.

“I will be traveling a lot in the beginning and will be conducting a drum beat to the fleet concentration areas to stay tuned into our sailors,” Moran wrote. His initial travel schedule is:

■ Aug. 12-14, Millington, Tenn.

■ Aug. 19-20, Newport, R.I.

■ Aug. 29, Millington

■ Sept. 4-5, Great Lakes, Ill.

■ Sept. 10-11, Norfolk, Va.

Moran, whose nomination for the job was approved Aug. 1 by the Senate, will also hold the title of deputy chief of naval operations for manpower, personnel, training and education.

“I am truly looking forward to the challenges we all face,” Moran wrote to his sailors. “The magnitude of the potential fiscal challenge is not lost on me, and we will work together to bring solutions forward that are in the best interest of the U.S. Navy.”